Kosher for Passover: Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill

I know this has been asked before but not recently. For MIL's upcoming big birthday at the end of March in Chapel Hill, one invitee wanted to know if Kosher for Passover meals are available somewhere in the area as the celebration will take place during the last few days of Passover. Any new news on that?

You really are getting a jump on things. The KP situation is getting better in this area, but there are still a lot of gaps. When you ask about KP meals do you like from a restaurant or do you mean frozen or MRE-style? If you're looking for restaurant take-out, that's not available locally. If you're okay with frozen, the Kroger on Strickland Rd. in Raleigh usually has the largest KP selection in the area. Other groceries have KP foods to varying degrees, but the "Kosher Kroger" has the broadest selection.

You might also want to get in touch with Rabbi Bluming at the Chapel Hill Chabad. He may have a line on something you can bring in special for the event.

I ended up giving birth on erev Pesach so we did KP MRE's for the seder that year. My kid's birthday falls during Passover this year and she's been bemoaning her sad fate for months now. I hope you'll be able to find a mutually satisfactory solution for your guest and when you do, please share how it worked for you.

There are plenty of delicious things that can be made dessert wise for passover that don't have that "passover" taste, but I understand her resentment ;-)

I had initially thought the OP was meaning like restaurants which if that is the case I stick to my original post. Usually the Triangle Jewish community has dinners for the first 2 nights at various places of worship. They also will send out emails/newsletters asking people to place orders for stuff that they will buy in Charlotte. The Kroger on Strickland is the place to go though since they carry cold cuts and k4p cheeses as well as the traditional stuffs.

Look, "Kosher for Passover" means different things to different people. One kosher person might be just fine going out and getting grilled fish and sauteed vegetables (which practically any regular restaurant can prepare), while another kosher person might only eat at a restaurant that is completely free of flour and fermentation during the 8 days of Passover. You will not find any specifically kosher for Passover restaurants here, but virtually any restaurant can accommodate a specialized diet.

The best thing is just to explain to the invitee that there are no Kosher restaurants here, but that there are restaurants that will cook special dishes to order, and if that's okay, what would he or she like to order.

Anyone who is what we call "glatt Kosher" (very strict in their kosher diet) would never even think of eating outside of their house or their kosher community during Passover, but that doesn't describe most Jewish people who adhere to a Kosher diet. However, there is a general category of people that have food issues that they like to use to inconvenience other people, and to see how far they can go to make others accommodate them.** (Not just kosher people, by any means.) So sometimes you just have to decide for yourself how far you are willing to go to accommodate people's individual wishes.

** Before anyone gets up in arms, I'm Jewish, and I don't eat pork. But I also don't demand that other people change their eating habits on my account.

I've always come to think that if any Kashrut laws were meant to be strictly followed it was the Kosher for Passover ones which has a pretty definitive meaning. Though anyone that has read Matzo Ball Gumbo would know that it was also adaptive to where you lived the one thing that was kept pretty constant was the none use of leavening agents or things that could become contaminated with such items.